• Auditors had cast aspersions on the value of public money in the works
• Lawmakers want Parliament given a report on the deals by September 30
Image: MINISTRY
Lawmakers have demanded a review of the multi-billion shillings contracts the government entered into with ICT firms to construct and maintain the fibre optic network.
The legislators hold that the contracts are “opaque” and continue to consume a substantial amount of resources, yet audit queries around the same remain unaddressed.
About Sh2.1 billion has been allocated to the maintenance of the fibre optic network in next year’s budget.
Auditors had cast aspersion on the value of public money in the works related to the network’s construction, maintenance and rehabilitation.
The Budget Committee of the National Assembly, chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, has asked the ICT Authority to review the contracts and furnish Parliament with a report by September 30.
“The ICT Authority to submit to MPs findings on the ongoing review of existing contracts on maintenance of the optic fibre,” the committee said in a report on next year’s budget estimates.
“This should include measures proposed to streamline the maintenance and rehabilitation works to enhance monitoring and evaluation,” the Nyoro-led team said.
MPs are also concerned about the slow pace at which key public facilities, including hospitals, are being connected to the Internet through the national fibre optic network.
Also flagged is the digital literacy programme, popularly known as the laptop project, which was championed by President William Ruto and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2017 elections.
MPs are concerned that over the years, the project’s budget has dropped drastically, signalling its eventual collapse.
The National Assembly ICT Committee, in its submission to the Budget team, said the laptops for the Class One pupils project were poorly implemented.
“Allocations have been on a persistent downward trajectory from Sh570 million in 2020 to Sh20 million in the current year, and is set to remain the same in the medium term.”
The Budget Committee has equally asked for a review of the project’s implementation strategy.
“The input of the relevant stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Education and Energy, should inform the strategy,” the Nyoro-led team recommended in the report.
This was even as MPs termed as unrealistic Sh20 million allocated for installing and connecting 500 computer labs in public primary schools.
The same amount is also for 100 per cent maintenance of the digital literacy device.
“Assuming that the entire amount is to be used in laboratories, this translates to Sh40,000 per laboratory, which is unrealistically too low,” MPs said.
Also cited among slow-moving projects is the installation and commission of the Eldoret-Nadapal fibre optic cable, connectivity to a special economic zone in Naivasha, as well as to Konza city.
The Nadapal fibre optic project was planned for between November 2015 and December 1 at about Sh2.9 billion.
However, as of April 30, only Sh1.47 billion had been spent, translating to about 50 per cent of the completion rate.
The project has been allocated Sh100 million in the next fiscal year, which MPs have said is inadequate.
All health facilities were to be connected to the Internet by December 2022 at Sh10.5 billon, but only Sh793 million worth of works has been implemented.
The SEZ Textile Park in Naivasha was also to be completed in December 2022 at Sh6.5 billion, but only two per cent had been done as of April 30.
Konza Data Centre and Smart City was also planned for December 2022 at Sh5.5 billion, but only Sh502 million of the works is covered.
The project has been allocated Sh169 million in the next budget, which MPs said is “too inadequate for the realisation of the set timelines”.
Slow works by the Broadcasting department’s works at KIMC campus in Eldoret have also been flagged.
The project was to run from July 2018 to June 2026 at Sh1.6 billion. So far, only Sh30 million has been spent, with a paltry Sh140 million allocated next year.
For the fibre optic network, MPs held that if the implementation is not fast-tracked, the planned completion timelines will be missed.
“The envisaged public service from the projects shall be delayed, but the delay shall also escalate the project costs.”
MPs have further cast doubt on the realisation of the constituency innovation hubs.
The village digital hubs were to be established under the digital superhighway pillar of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The plan is to put up a hub in each of the 1,450 wards by 2027 amid concerns there are no adequate budgetary commitments.
The hubs are to be co-funded by CDF and through allocations to the ICT department, estimated at Sh2.8 million.